For the third time in as many games, the New Jersey Titans had a 2-0 slip through their grasp as they lost to the Danbury Jr Hat Tricks on Wednesday night at the Middletown Sports Complex.
As in both games last weekend, New Jersey jumped out to an early lead four minutes in when Nikita Meshcheryakov put home a rebound in front of the Danbury net. Dominick Bartecko and Matej Teply picked up the assists on the Princeton commit’s 14th of the season. Ryan Friedman doubled the lead for the Titans with a long range wrist shot from just inside the blue line with 3:02 to go in the period for his 7th of the year. Teply and Ethan Wongus got the helpers on Friedman’s first goal since December 12th against Philadelphia, a 9 game span.
However, in what has becoming a worrisome trend, New Jersey’s offense tapped out after the first period. The Jr Hat Tricks began their comeback by scoring twice in the second, including one on the power play, to tie the game going into the second intermission. They would score the game winner 1:22 into the third, and they added an insurance marker seconds after a Titans’ power play expired halfway through the period, squashing any chance for New Jersey to get back into the game.
With the loss, the Titans have now dropped their last four games, their longest stretch without a point in the season. With a 19-18-2 record, they remain stuck in 6th place on 40 points. A pivotal weekend lies ahead when New Jersey takes their first road trip to the Tri-Town Ice Arena in Hooksett, New Hampshire, to face the New Hampshire Mountain Kings for a pair of games on Friday and Saturday. Both matchups feature a 7:30pm faceoff, and can be seen on NAHLtv.